Stripper type cotton harvester



July 17, 1951 H. 0 MAY STRIPPER TYPE COTTON HARVESTER Filed Dec. 21 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR. Horace D. May

ATTD RN EYS July 17, 1951 H. an

STRIPPER TYPE COTTON HARVESTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 21, 1948 IN VEN TOR. D. May

ATTD R N EYS Horace July 17, 1951 H. (IMAY 2,560,974 v STRIPPER TYPE COTTON HARVESTER Filed Dec. 21. 1948 s Sheets-Sheet s IN VEN TOR. /-/or'c7c'e D. May

Patented July 17, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,560,974 STRIPPER TYPE COTTON HARVESTER Horace D. May, Clovis, N.'Mex.- 7 Application December 21, 1948, Serial No. 66,413 1 Claim. (01. 56 -14) This invention relates to a harvester, and more particularly to a harvester for cotton.

An object of the invention is to provide a cotton harvester adapted to be attached to a tractor for movementalong a row of cotton plants to gather cotton bolls as the harvester is moved and to deliver the bolls to a receptacle or cart carried at the rear of thetractor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cotton harvester that will strip bolls from upright cotton plants and convey the stripped bolls rearwardly and upwardly to be deposited in a suitable receptacle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cotton harvester which is extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

Figure 1 is a view taken with parts broken away;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the cotton harvester attached to a tractor, according to the present invention;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the cotton harvester attached to a tractor, according to the present invention;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 7-7 of Figural;

Figure 8 is a perspective view showing certain on line l| of Figure 2,

- constructional details thereof;

Referring to the drawings, the numeral iii designates a tractor provided with front wheels ii and rear wheels l2. Arranged on each side of the tractor and secured thereto is a pair of longitudinally-extending, spaced angle bars l3 and M. For harvesting the cotton, a cotton stripper unit comprising a pair of spaced elevators i5 and it arranged for coaction with each other is mounted on one side of the tractor, and there are a similar pair of spaced elevators l7 and i8 positioned on the other side of the tractor for coacting together. Each of the elevators comprises a bottom wall I9, a side wall 2i extending longitudinally along the side edge of the bottom wall l9 and secured thereto, there being an exten tion 22 provided with, an arcuately-shaped; bottom 23 projecting from the forward end of the side wall 2|. Projecting vertically from the bottom wall i 9 is a skirt 23 for coacting with the side wall 2| to support thereon an inclined top wall 24. Projecting forwardly from the elevator is an upturned shoe 25 for slidable engagement with the ground when cotton is being harvested. Ara edat ht n es with r ep.e t.t ;s ee of the bottom wall i9 and secured thereto is a vertically-disposed upright 26 which extends along the bottom wall for a portion of its length. The inclined top walls 2 1 of the pairs of elevators l5 and it are arranged for coaction with each other and define a trough or elongated funnel for conveying bolls of cotton therebetween, as hereinafter described.

Arranged adjacent the front end of each of the elevators is a first grooved pulley 21 rotatably supported on the bearing 23 which projects upwardly from the bottom wall Hi. Arranged adjacent the rear of each of the elevators is a second grooved pulley 29 which is rotatably supported by a sleeve 38. Trained over the pulleys 2'! and 29 and extending around the exterior of the upright 26 is an endless rubber belt 31.

The pairs of adjacent elevators are pivotally connected by a bolt andnut assembly 32 which extends through a pair of overlappingplates 33 and 34 carried by the bottom walls of the elevator. A coil spring 33 has one of its ends connected to an ear 37 which is secured to the rear end of the elevator [1, while the other end of the spring 36 is connected to an ear 38 that is secured to the rear end of the adjacent elevator 18 for biasing the elevators in proper spaced relation with respect to each other. The inclined top walls 24 are provided with rectangularly-shaped openings 39 which are arranged in registry above a recess 68 in the bottom wall ill for the ingress therethrough of-the bolls being conveyed by the belts 3| of the adjacent coacting pairs of elevators.

The elevators are arranged forpivotal movement about a horizontal axis, so that the front thereof can be conveniently raised or lowered as desired. The pivotal connection embodies a horizontally-disposed rotatable shaft M which is supported by a pair of spaced brackets 512 and t3 which project upwardly from the angle irons 4 3 I that extends between the angle irons M, Figure 6'. A pair of spaced arms and t6 extend downwardly from the elevators I1 and I8 and the arms carry collars 41 for rotatably receiving the shaft 4| therein. For causing pivotal movement of the elevators, a rod 48 is arranged spectra transversely above the front of the tractor and the rod carries a plurality of spaced cables 9, which are connected to the bottoms of the elevators for raising and lowering the latter as the rod 48 is rotated, Figure 2. For rotating the rod 48, a longtiudinally-extending rod 49 is rotatably supported on a pair of braces and 5| which project upwardly from angle irons 52. The rod 49 carries a bevel gear 53 arranged in meshing engagement with a bevel gear 54 arranged intermediate the ends of the rod 48, there being a manually-operable wheel 55 on the other end of the rod 49.

The driving mechanism for rotating the grooved pulleys 21 and 29 of the elevators comprises a large sprocket '56 carried by the' rear axle 51 of the tractor, there being a small sprocket 58 journaled on the shaft 4|, and an endless chain 59 is trained over the sprockets 56 and 58. Arranged in spaced relation on the shaft 4| is a pair of vertically-disposed bevel gears 60 and 6| which are in meshing engagement with a pair of spaced, horizontally-disposed bevel gears 62 and 63, respectively. The bevel gears 62 and 63 are secured to the lower ends of the driven shafts 64 and 65, the shafts 64 and 65 projecting upwardly through the collars ,30 and they are secured to the rear grooved pulleys 29 for rotating the latter when the tractor wheels are rotated by the movement of the latter.

A driven shaft 66 is arranged in spaced, parallel relation above and to the rear of the shaft 4| and is rotatably supported on bearings 61 and 68. Carried by the shaft 66 is a bevel gear 69 arranged in working engagement with a bevel gear carried by the shaft 4|, Figures 6 and 7. Arranged intermediate the ends of the driven shaft 66 and carried thereby is a broad, endless belt H for conveying the bolls of cotton discharged through the recess 40 in the bottoms of the elevators, the bolls of cotton beingconveyed to a suitable cart or storage receptacle (not shown). The tractor is provided with a pair of hitches I2 and 13 for attachment to a cart to be towed.

In use, it will be seen that the pair of elevators |5 and Hi coact with each other to harvest or strip bolls of cotton from a row of cotton plants, while the pair of elevators H and I8 coact with each other to simultaneously strip an adjacent row of cotton plants. Thus, forward movement of the tractor ID will rotate the endless chain 59 which is trained over the sprocket 56 carried by the tractor axle '51 and over the sprocket 5'8 journaled on the shaft 4| to thereby rotate the shaft 4| to rotate the grooved pulleys 29 of the elevators. Rotation of the pulleys .29 causes a rotation of the pair of endless rubber belts 3| which are spaced from each other and coact to strip bolls of cotton 13 from cotton plants 14 as the pairs of adjacent elevators straddle a row of cotton plants, the belts 29 traveling at the same speed as the tractor. The lower ends of the cotton plants will first be stripped as the tractor moves forwardly and then the remainder or upper portions of the cotton plants will be stripped of bolls with the cotton stalks left standing. The stripped bolls are received by the inclined top walls 24 of the elevators and are conveyed rearwardly by the rotary movement of the endless belts 3|. As the stripped bolls reach the rear of the elevators, they drop through opening 39 and then through recesses 40 in the bottom wall of the conveyor. The bolls are then deposited on the endless driven belt 1| Where they are conveyed rearwardly and deposited in a cart or suitable receptacle (not shown).

By using a properly-selected spring 36, the spacing between adjacent coacting pairs of elevators may be varied, such as when it is desired to vary the spacing in-order to conform to varying sizes of cotton rows. For varyin the height of the elevators relative to the ground, the operator rotates the hand wheel 5'5 to thereby wind or unwind the cables 9 to cause a pivotal movement of the elevators.

As many embodiments may be made of this inventive concept, and as many modifications may be made in the embodiment hereinbefore shown and described, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrattive and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

In a cotton harvester, the combination with a tractor having a rear axle, a cotton stripper unit pivotally mounted on said tractor, said cotton stripper unit comprising a pair of spaced coacting elevators, drive means operatively connecting said rear axle to each of said elevators for actuating the latter, each of said elevators comprising a bottom wall, a side wall arranged transversely with respect to said bottom wall and secured thereto, an inclined top wall supported by said side wall, a bearing projecting upwardly from the front end of said bottom wall, a first grooved pulley supported by said bearing, an extension provided with an arcuately shaped bottom projecting from the front end of said side wall, an upturned shoe for slidably engaging the ground, a vertically disposed upright arranged at right angles with respect to a side edge of the bottom wall and secured thereto, a sleeve supported on the rear end of the bottom wall, a second grooved pulley rotatably supported by said sleeve, a rotatable endless belt trained between said first and second pulleys and extending around the exterior of said upright, the endless belts of said pair of elevators cooperating to strip cotton bolls from cotton plants, the inclined top walls of said elevators coacting to define a trough for guiding the stripped cotton bolls rearwardly along said elevators, and means for adjustably moving said elevators about a horizontal axis.

HORACE D. MAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

